Dwight Howard to change his nickname

Dwight Howard, the self-proclaimed Superman, has decided to change his nickname.

Hoopsvibe’s quick call: Dwight Howard is going to milk LA for everything it’s worth; and hopefully, along with a new nickname, that also includes a championship ring.

Howard was on Time Warner Cable’s Lakers telecast Sunday night and said he wants to change his superhero nickname from "Superman" to Iron Man." (I love that the big fella is keeping it consistent with the comic book theme.) However, when was informed that former Lakers great A.C. Green already held that pseudonym, Howard has reportedly decided to resort to a different method of finding a nickname.

According to a tweet by Los Angeles Times reporter, Mark Medina, the Lakers new superstar center will consult his 3.5 million plus twitter followers on what his new alias should be.

@MarkGMedina tweeted, "@DwightHoward said he’s going to ask his Twitter followers for suggestions on what his new nickname should be".

Where would we be without Twitter these days???

Most likely, Howard is sick and tired hearing Shaquille O’Neal, former Hall of Fame Lakers center, publicly criticize him for copying the Superman title. Shaq has been very adamant about him being the one and only Superman in the NBA and has always thought Howard should adopt something else and establish his own identity, rather than mirroring someone else. Howard has yet to comply.

But perhaps Shaq has a point.

As all of us fans already know, Shaq has been calling himself "Superman" for years and even has "Man of Steel" tattooed on his left bicep. Additionally, O’Neal was originally drafted by Orlando (like Howard) only to move from the Magic to play for the Lakers (like Howard). Both have gone by the nickname, "Superman."

But in Howard’s defense, A.) He’s a total beast; so being called "Superman" isn’t a reach by any stretch of the imagination and B.) Howard did try changing his superhero moniker to "Batman" in 2010 in an effort to appease O’Neal but that never materialized.

Either way, you can tell Howard is loving his new life in in the limelight in tinseltown. And who wouldn’t? The guy can do whatever he wants in one of the hottest cities in the world. Wouldn’t it be great if the biggest problem you had to face this week was deciding which nickname to go by next?

So what do you think Hoopsvibers? What nickname should Dwight take on?? Maybe "The Transformer" since he’s going from one name to the next??